Post-doctoral position on dust properties in protoplanetary disks

Post-doctoral position on dust properties in protoplanetary disks at the CEA Saclay (SAp) and Paris-Sud University Orsay (IAS)

The Department of Astronomy at the CEA Saclay (SAp) and Paris-Sud University Orsay (IAS) are inviting applications for a 2 years postdoctoral position (sept. 2017- sept. 2019) in the protoplanetary (PP) disks area, supported by the LABEX P2IO. Applicants should have a PhD or equivalent in Astronomy, Astrophysics, or Physics. They should be familiar with one of the following area: PP disks, dust models, radiative transfer, observations, simulations, and have some knowledge in at least 3 of these area.

The successful candidate, supervised by E. Pantin (SAp) and E. Habart (IAS), will be based at the SAp. He will benefit from the local expertise on disk simulations, micro-physical dust modelling, observations with an access to a large database of mid-infrared imaging and angularly resolved spectra (VLT/VISIR) and on the mid-infrared JWST/MIRI instrument simulations. New instruments (VLT, ALMA) reveal a complex distribution of dust and gas in PP disks, as well as, drastic changes in their properties, that must be clearly understood in order to constrain the initial conditions of planet formation and the disk evolution. Also, current dust models without evolution have reached the limit of their applicability. The chosen candidate will work on the evolution of the dust properties, such as composition, size, structure and ionization state, in response to local conditions in disks. He will implement a dust modelling  (including the multiple forms of carbonaceous dust and calculating realistic optical properties according to local physical conditions) into a radiative transfer code specific to the disks, to then use the outputs as inputs for the JWST data simulations. Modeling dust emission spectra and extinction will be also confronted with existing data of PP disks obtained with various instruments, including observations of the warm dust thermal emission, characteristic bands of nano-grains, as well as scattered light of dust, that will be widely observed with the JWST.

This framework will give the opportunity to the successful candidate to lead an international position for the scientific exploitation of the JWST and other modern facilities. The leverage will be very strong, since the 2nd year of the postdoc will coincide with the first year of operations of the JWST that will then continue at least until 2024 and probably beyond.

Applicants should submit by email a CV, a statement of the proposed research, list of publications, and the names and email addresses of three professional references, to: [email protected], [email protected]
The deadline is currently fixed to June, 30, 2017 and shall be extended until a suitable candidate is found.